Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, has had a phenomenal few years. It is by far the world’s most popular online encyclopedia. Protecting an online profile is vital to any website such as Wikipedia, because its loyal fan base may abandon it in droves if it is seen to make any major mistakes, either with its content […]

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, has had a phenomenal few years. It is by far the world’s most popular online encyclopedia. Protecting an online profile is vital to any website such as Wikipedia, because its loyal fan base may abandon it in droves if it is seen to make any major mistakes, either with its content or its technology.

Most of the bad press Wikipedia has received has been on account of the negative perception of its ‘freely sourced’ content, and the fact that anybody can add or edit articles, with only the most basic monitoring of uploaded content in operation. Editing poor content on Wikipedia is largely the job of its large online community, many members of which spend their days trawling its content to find errors, and correcting them. The bias of some articles has led to some negative media coverage and criticism of Wikipedia, with some claiming the structure of Wikipedia allows some subjects to be biased to the extent of being inaccurate, or not accurately or comprehensively sourcing information and images. In light of this, many colleges and universities have banned the use of Wikipedia in any academic function except casual reading.

Freedom of Knowledge

Nonetheless, Wikipedia generally has good press at is is seen as being part of a movement to ‘democratize’ information, making it free and available to all. Wikipedia recently came out in ardent opposition to recent American anti – piracy laws, and effected a ‘blackout’ of its English pages for a 24 hour period. Many came out in support of Wikipedia’s ‘blackout’ strategy. Wikipedia’s growth over the years can be best shown in the form of statistics and graphs:

This graph shows the general increase in the number of articles on the English Wikipedia over the years 2001 – ’12.

This is a visual representation of Wikipedia’s size, if its english articles were compiled into a physical collection. The size of this collection would, by now, be far too big for anybody to read in a lifetime.

Like every other smartphone OS, Windows Phone 7 needs a little bit of learning and unlearning too. If you are a new user to Windows Phone, then these topics will help you with several simple tasks that you may take a little time figuring out. This is the first in the series of many topics.

Microsoft may have been a late entrant to the Smartphone segment (not considering the popular but old fashioned Windows Mobile here) but it does look like Redmond is doing a lot of things right so far. The Windows Phone UI and functionalities are extremely slick and despite the relatively few apps available on the Windows Phone marketplace compared to the iOS AppStore or Android Market, a lot of people have started to check out their smartphones. Today, Windows Phone enjoys an encouraging, but not so great 1.9% market share. But that could apparently change in the next few years thanks to the Lumia series of phones from Nokia that run on the Windows Phone platform.

According to the latest report from IHS iSuppli, Microsoft Windows Phone could beat Apple’s iOS in market share as early as 2015. In their report, IHS claim that 2012 could be the watershed year for Microsoft as their Windows Phone grows in popularity from a market share of sub 2% levels to as much as 9%. This is good not just for Microsoft but also Nokia that has seen its popularity fizzle in recent times to the iPhone and Android handsets.

Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras are mostly used by professional photographers. They offer more sophisticated features than point and shoot digital cameras. DSLR is a dream for aspiring as well as amateur photographers. While some are not in a position to afford a DSLR many novice users find it hard to get going with their brand new DSLR cameras. If you have just bought a new DSLR and wondering how to start shooting with it then here are some simple tips to guide you.

Handling

When you start shooting with a brand new DSLR and find the pictures are getting blurred, switch to a fast shutter speed. Faster you take a photograph lesser is its chance of getting affected by shake of hand. If you can hold the camera close to your body you can minimize the chance of shaking. Lean against a tree or strong support when you are taking nature shots.

Go with manual

Your DSLR comes with a manual. Consult it whenever you are confused. Learn about different settings of your camera. Practice changing settings like shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Try them in different situations to get accustomed. You should know the settings like back of your hand. A photographic opportunity won’t wait or give you time to adjust your DSLR.

Avoid presets

Try to shoot in manual mode as far as possible. Let different modes and programs be set aside for compact digital cameras. Now you are grown up! Manual and aperture priority are most powerful settings that you should explore and expertise.

Buy necessary accessories

If you are serious about photography then you need to buy some accessories for your DSLR camera. It is desirable to buy a UV filter for each lens. It not only improves picture quality but protect your valuable lenses from scratches. A sturdy tripod and remote release would be great for taking photographs that require long shutter speed like night photography. Make sure to buy a camera bag. Depending on the extent of your involvement, you may need separate bags for carrying the camera and lenses.

Experiment

Learning is fun when you experiment with your device. While taking picture of a waterfall or running water try different shutter speeds and note down the changes. Similarly, while shooting a landscape explore different settings of aperture. You may be surprised to view the results.
Press the shutter button half way down to pre-focus before you take any final shot. This will stabilize the focus and give you a clearer picture. If you are anticipating any subject on a spot then pre focus on the spot by half pressing the shutter. When the anticipated view comes, press the shutter all way down.

File format

As a beginner of DSLR camera it may be useful to shoot in RAW file format. A digital RAW file contains unprocessed RAW data that must be processed with special software in order to become a finished image. There is no loss of image quality in this format. While converting raw files to images, you can adjust the white balance. You can also preserve the image from RAW file as high quality 16 bit file (TIFF or PSD format).

Finally

DSLR cameras are very sensitive and costly. It is desirable to follow best practices and preserve the device for superior performance and long life of camera. If you are serious about photography and want to pursue it with passion then these tips may help you in get started with a DSLR camera.

Author Bio:

Emily Steves is associated with various internet security related companies as their freelance and staff writer. She has been linked with some of the best web media companies and offers various ways for internet solutions. She excels in writing articles related to AT&T internet, internet security, internet plans, comcast deals etc

Just a short while after the launch of the RAZR Motorola has announced that two new Android phones are due to be released very soon. The Motoluxe and Defy Mini both run on Android Gingerbread. Neither phone is quite as cutting edge as the RAZR but they are nice additions to Motorola’s burgeoning Android range.

The Motoluxe is a large 4 inch touchscreen phone that will be ideal for web based features and Android apps. The phone runs on quite a slow 800MHz processor but is fairly well endowed in 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity. It also has a pretty decent 8 megapixel camera and a VGA front facing camera.

While the specs may not be amazing the Motoluxe is certainly a stylish phone, and has a unique ‘lanyard slot’ at the bottom right of the screen that will light up when you have a missed call, new message or email. This is a bit like the light indicators that used to be included on the exterior of flip-phones, and it is a wonder why this useful feature has not been included on more touchscreen phones. The lanyard slot allows you to quickly check whether you need to read a new message or check a missed call without actually having to walk across the room to pick up your phone.

The Defy Mini is a smaller version of the earlier Defy released in 2010. The Defy was a rugged phone, a phone designed to withstand the worst that Mother Nature had to throw at it (as well as your own cack-handedness). Being able to endure high volumes of dust, being held under water for extended periods and shrugging off drops to the floor that would leave other phones weeping into a thousand pieces are just some of the reasons that rugged phones have become popular with mountain climbers, divers and fans of other outdoor pursuits.

Until the Defy though, these rugged phones were pretty basic. Probably more basic than a phone you had ten years ago, but Motorola showed it was possible to bring this durability to touchscreen smartphones. The Defy Mini is the same sort of thing, albeit quite a bit smaller, which probably makes it even more ideal for outdoor activities.

The Mini is a little bit slower than the original Defy and the camera isn’t quite as good, but it does come with a more modern version of Android (Gingerbread) and the same decent Wi-Fi and 3G connections. Most importantly though, for when you find yourself lost on a mountaintop somewhere, the Defy Mini has a far superior battery life compared to the original for talk time and standby.

Both phones will feature MotoSwitch, which evolved out of Motorola’s earlier MotoBlur system. MotoSwitch has adopted ideas used on Facebook that will display contacts and app icons more prominently on your phone the more you interact with them. So if you have one contact that you phone ten times a day and another that you sent a single message to 8 months ago, your regular contact will be easier to access from the phone’s homescreen.

The two phones are due to be released in the coming weeks in Europe, China and Latin America, although Motorola has not released any price details just yet. When these phones are finally released you will be able to get them in the UK from mobile phone comparison website Best Mobile Contracts.

One of the biggest gripes I have about the headphones that come as part of my phone package is their inability to fit the contours of my ears perfectly. And that is one important aspect that the new NoiseHush NX80 stereo headphones fixes. This headphone – that comes with a gold-plated 3.5mm jack and a 3.9 feet tangle-free cable – claims to deliver music at a powerful bass while retaining the quality of the output sound. The headphone also comes with an easily accessible control button that will let you pick calls while listening to music quite easily. Other specs include an 8mm driver unit, regular frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz and a rated power range of 2mw to 10mw. Continue reading “NoiseHush NX80 Stereo Headphones Price and Features”

As Apple tackles complaints made against battery life for the new iPhone 4S, they could have another problem to solve – SIM Cards. And the two issues could be linked.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, when launching the iPhone 4S, placed a lot of emphasis on an improved battery to cope with the faster processing speed in the new device. A better phone, he claimed, did not mean a reduced battery life. Despite his assurances some users complained on Apple forums of the device’s battery running down in under a day. Others claimed the battery would drop while the phone was inert. Apple posted suggestions and tips online for reducing battery drainage, including switching off location services and data usage when without signal. Now Apple has promised an iOS update, iOS 5.0.1 will solve the issue. But the battery problem may have created another.

Some users have taken to forums suggesting when they have received their iOS update their smartphone no longer recognises their SIM card. One user wrote that they re-inserted the card to be met with a note reading “SIM Failure”, another “Invalid SIM”. Without a SIM card users are unable to make calls or send texts making their iPhone 4S largely useless. Others have reported on the Apple help forums that while the SIM appears to have been recognised they have not been able to connect calls or receive texts. Others have complained that after the iOS 5.0.1 update they have still had a battery issue and even found it difficult to connect to Wi-Fi.

For Apple, the on-going issue of battery life and user complaints will have uncomfortable memories of what the press and bloggers dubbed “Antenna-gate”. When the iPhone 4 launched users quickly spotted a design flaw. When held in the left hand to make a call the user covered a sensor which meant the signal dropped off, making it difficult to make and receive calls. It was, they claimed, the fault of the antenna which was in the wrong place. When designing the iPhone 4S Apple took this issue seriously and wanted no repeat of the same issue. Two antennae were fitted to the new device. Yet while one problem is solved, another crops up.
The new iOS 5 has been rolled out on all compatible devices but so far the issues with the update only seem to be affecting iPhone 4S users, some of whom claim they are going back to using their iPhone 4. Form responses claim re-starting the phone can solve the problem temporarily or restoring from iTunes. Others claim it works if they switch off the 3G network. But none of these are solutions with any real longevity.

The success of the iPhone 4S, its status as the fastest selling smartphone despite its not so cheap mobile phone deals, have made this a bumper quarter for Apple who must have been hoping this would close the door on the marred launch of the iPhone 4. However, while one iOS update does not appear to have solved the battery issues on the new device, another will have to be forthcoming before a second software issue affects another new smartphone launch. Apple has so far made no comment about the SIM problems reported.

The Windows Phone marketplace is still a small ecosystem with just around 40,000 apps available for download. Around 3000 new apps are being added on a daily basis with more than 1650 of them being free. While this may sound like a small number, the fact that rivals like Apple and Google have had close to 3 years of headstart over Microsoft is an indication that Microsoft may be catching up faster than one may have thought. In the United States, Windows Phone 7 devices already make up close to 5% of all smartphones. Do remember that this does not include the older Windows Mobile 6.5 version devices.

So, what are the most popular apps among this fledgling population of users. First up, the top 10 free apps on the Windows Phone marketplace

Siri, your “humble personal assistant” could be doing a lot many more things very soon. A patent application made public today by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has revealed a newer version of the Nuance software that would enable the voice recognition software to record and interpret data provided to it over phone calls. The application has been filed by Nuance Communications – the company that powers the voice recognition technology on Siri.

In the patent application titled, “HANDS FREE CONTACT DATABASE INFORMATION ENTRY AT A COMMUNICATION DEVICE“, Nuance has described a new program that would initiate a recording system to store an ongoing conversation between the user and another person over a phone call and then translate this conversation into text and ultimately be able to interpret contact details like Name and Phone numbers that can be saved into the user’s phone book.

“In one embodiment, a recording system at a communication device detects a user initiation to record. Responsive to detecting the user initiation to record, the recording system records the ongoing conversation supported between the communication device and a second remote communication device. The recording system converts the recording of the conversation into text. Next, the recording system extracts contact information from the text. Then, the recording system stores the extracted contact information in an entry of the contact database, such that contact information is added to the contact database of the communication device without manual entry of the contact information by the user.”

The patent application points out that one of the important uses of such an utility would be while the user is driving and would hence not be able to note down details provided over the call. It is however interesting to note that the patent application is to a large extent specific about interpreting and storing “contact details” over the phone and not generic about taking all other sorts of commands. We will need to monitor future filings by Nuance to see the direction this exciting voice recognition technology is headed to.